Norwegian-Indian project to study the impact of climate change in Himalaya

The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research will, together with Indian and Norwegian partners, study the impact of climate change on some water systems in the north of India. The project is part of a portfolio financed by The Norwegian Embassy and administered by The Research Council of Norway (RCN).

The relevance can hardly be disputed. During the "Climategate" scandal, in autumn 2009, the scientific controversy over the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers was one of the first issues questioning the very quality of the IPCC report. Since then it has been a priority to strengthen our knowledge about how climate change influences the so-called Third Pole.

This was part of the backdrop when the Indo-Norwegian research copperation held a side event during 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit on the 1st of February. The seminar was inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, and his Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) also co-hosted the event.

The project will focus on the following aspects: Climate and hydrological modelling and scenarios; Climate change and feedback mechanisms in hydrological processes; Understanding impacts such as: snow, ice and glacier melt runoff; monsoon cycle changes; and Impacts on water resources.